Questions and answers

Question reference: S2W-31854

Asked by: Robin Harper, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 February 2007
Current Status: Answered by Des McNulty on 26 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many affordable housing unit planning consents were secured between March 2005 and March 2006, also broken down by local authority area.

Question reference: S2W-31853

Asked by: Robin Harper, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 February 2007
Current Status: Answered by Des McNulty on 26 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities have active policies, based on PAN 74, that set specific requirements on developers to provide affordable homes; how many affordable housing unit planning consents have been secured, and how many affordable homes had been built under such requirements in each local authority area and in total by March 2006.

This information is not held centrally at present. PAN 74 on affordable housing was introduced in March 2005and it will take time for all local authorities to adopt affordable housing policiesin line with this advice as part of their overall planning policies and for newhomes to be built. Early indications are that planning authorities are adoptingaffordable housing policies that reflect the advice in PAN 74 and that these arebeginning to deliver additional affordable housing units. However, we are puttingmonitoring arrangements in place to assess the effectiveness of the advice in PAN74.

Question reference: S2W-31858

Asked by: Robin Harper, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 February 2007
Current Status: Answered by Rhona Brankin on 26 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many households were estimated to be fuel poor in each local authority area in the most recent year for which information is available.

Thelatest figures available are for the year October 2003 to September 2004. The figurescome from the Scottish House Condition Survey. Survey figures will always have anassociated uncertainty. The following table shows the figures for each local authoritywith their associated 95% confidence interval, i.e. if we repeated the survey 20times, 19 out of 20 times the figure would fall within the range shown.

Council Area	Fuel Poor Estimated Number of Households	95% Confidence Interval
Council Area	Fuel Poor Estimated Number of Households	Low	High
Aberdeen City	15,500	14,200	16,800
Aberdeenshire	18,300	16,800	19,800
Angus	7,300	6,700	7,900
Argyll and Bute	8,200	7,500	8,900
Scottish Borders	10,600	9,700	11,500
Clackmannanshire	1,500	1,400	1,600
West Dunbartonshire	3,700	3,500	3,900
Dumfries and Galloway	11,500	10,600	12,400
Dundee	8,700	8,100	9,300
East Ayrshire	8,900	8,200	9,600
East Dunbartonshire	5,000	4,600	5,400
East Lothian	5,500	5,100	5,900
East Renfrewshire	3,500	3,300	3,700
City of Edinburgh	14,200	13,700	14,700
Eilean Siar	4,300	3,800	4,800
Falkirk	9,400	8,600	10,200
Fife	20,000	18,900	21,100
City of Glasgow	38,300	36,400	40,200
Highland	20,500	18,700	22,300
Inverclyde	6,400	5,900	6,900
Midlothian	4,300	4,000	4,600
Moray	8,600	7,800	9,400
North Ayrshire	8,300	7,700	8,900
North Lanarkshire	14,100	13,400	14,800
Orkney	3,200	2,900	3,500
Perth and Kinross	13,000	11,800	14,200
Renfrewshire	7,900	7,500	8,300
Shetlands	2,500	2,300	2,700
South Ayrshire	10,900	9,800	12,000
South Lanarkshire	21,000	19,200	22,800
Stirling	6,800	6,300	7,300
West Lothian	6,400	6,000	6,800
Scotland	328,100	323,900	332,300

Question reference: S2W-31857

Asked by: Robin Harper, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 February 2007
Current Status: Answered by Des McNulty on 22 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many private landlords are registered under the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004, broken down by local authority area.

The following table shows thenumber of private landlords and letting agents approved for registration by eachlocal authority, and the number of applications awaiting determination, as at 31 January 2007. Landlordsand agents are required to register in each authority where they own or manage property,so these figures include multiple registrations for some individuals or organisations.

Local Authority	Approved Registrations	Applications
Aberdeen City	1,096	5,787
Aberdeenshire	552	2,434
Angus	243	1,338
Argyll and Bute	0	1,918
Clackmannanshire	0	439
Dumfries and Galloway	459	2,348
Dundee City	0	2,833
East Ayrshire	0	1,121
East Dunbartonshire	26	662
East Lothian	14	1,429
East Renfrewshire	0	683
Edinburgh, City of	0	17,469
Eilean Siar	28	251
Falkirk	1,029	1,033
Fife	0	5,030
Glasgow City	0	10,718
Highland	0	3,694
Inverclyde	0	921
Midlothian	0	727
Moray	0	1,155
North Ayrshire	0	1,178
North Lanarkshire	527	1,355
Orkney Islands	636	94
Perth and Kinross	707	2,902
Renfrewshire	16	1,571
Scottish Borders, The	0	2,373
Shetland Islands	72	162
South Ayrshire	586	943
South Lanarkshire	13	2,840
Stirling	0	1,690
West Dunbartonshire	14	509
West Lothian	773	904
Scotland	6,794	78,508

Question reference: S2W-31859

Asked by: Robin Harper, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Friday, 16 February 2007
Current Status: Answered by George Lyon on 22 February 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive how many empty dwellings there were in each local authority area in the most recent year for which information is available.

Comprehensive information aboutempty dwellings is not available. council tax billing systems provide informationon each dwelling in Scotland and identify dwellings entitled to exemption or discounts.Specific discounts and exemptions are available for dwellings which are vacant orsecond homes. The latest statistics on such dwellings (including also a small number of dwellings entirely occupiedby people who are “disregarded” for council tax purposes), published by the General Register Office for Scotland, areshown in the following table:

Dwellings Entitled to CertainCouncil Tax Exemption/Discounts, Including Second Homes and Vacant Dwellings, September2005

Local Authority	Number of Dwellings
Local Authority	Number of Dwellings
Aberdeen City	5,574
Aberdeenshire	4,681
Angus	2,756
Argyll and Bute	5,042
Clackmannanshire	794
Dumfries and Galloway	3,331
Dundee City	4,822
East Ayrshire	1,286
East Dunbartonshire	547
East Lothian	1,419
East Renfrewshire	883
Edinburgh, City of	8,734
Eilean Siar	1,866
Falkirk	2,069
Fife	7,122
Glasgow City	15,911
Highland	9,444
Inverclyde	2,368
Midlothian	522
Moray	2,021
North Ayrshire	2,897
North Lanarkshire	2,266
Orkney Isles	785
Perth and Kinross	3,817
Renfrewshire	2,909
Scottish Borders	3,263
Shetland	768
South Ayrshire	1,534
South Lanarkshire	3,500
Stirling	1,648
West Dunbartonshire	1,508
West Lothian	1,163
Scotland	107,250

Notes:

1. These figures include:

- Unoccupied dwellings that areexempt from council tax.

- Dwellings subject to secondhome or long-term empty property discount.

- A small number of dwellingsoccupied entirely by adults who are “disregarded” for the purpose of paying counciltax, such as adults who are severely mentally impaired.

2. The figures may fluctuatefor two main reasons:

- Self-catering holiday accommodationavailable to let for less than 140 days per year may be recorded either as an unoccupieddwelling (and included in these figures) or as a business.

- There can be delays in updatingthe information on council tax.

3. Source: GROS household estimates:

http://www.gro-scotland.gov.uk/statistics/library/household-estimates-projections/household-estimates-for-scotland-by-local-authority-1991-to-2005/index.html.

Question reference: S2O-11601

Asked by: Robin Harper, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Wednesday, 03 January 2007
Current Status: Answered by Des McNulty on 11 January 2007

To ask the Scottish Executive which local authorities have not yet completed audits of community greenspace and when all such audits will be completed and published.

Question reference: S2W-28255

Asked by: Robin Harper, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Monday, 11 September 2006
Current Status: Answered by Tavish Scott on 22 September 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive what steps are currently being taken to encourage children to cycle to school and to lessen school run congestion.

Local authorities will receive£8.8 million this year and over £9 million next year for Cycling, Walking and SaferStreets projects, and £11.3 milllion and £11.6 million this and next year to implement20mph schemes around schools making the local environment safer for those choosingto walk or cycle to school. We currently provides funding of £1.24 million for theSchool Travel Coordinator programme to promote active travel options, includingcycling, for school children and to increase the proportion of non-car based travelassociated with school run congestion. All local authorities have a least one schooltravel coordinator working with schools in their areas.

We also provide core fundingof £400,000 to Cycling Scotland to promote the benefits of cycling, not just forleisure purposes but also as a travel option, and to run a training programme forthose who deliver cycle training in schools. Cycle training is offered to all P6and P7 pupils throughout Scotland and is designed to provide pupils with the skillsand knowledge needed to cycle safely on the road.

In June this year, I announceda funding package of £8 million to Sustrans over this and the next financial yearto upgrade and expand the National Cycle Network, focussing on building links toschools and increasing connectivity between home and school. I have also identifiedfunding of £10 million for measures to tackle the school run and will be announcinghow this will be spent in due course.

All of the above measures willprovide pupils, parents and carers, who would otherwise travel to school by car,with a realistic option for travelling to school by bike.

Question reference: S2W-28013

Asked by: Robin Harper, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 August 2006
Current Status: Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 22 September 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive why it proposes in paragraphs 2.20 and 2.21 of Scottish Historic Environment Policy 3: Gardens and Designed Landscapes to remove the major responsibility for designed landscapes from Scottish Natural Heritage, given that the October 2005 concordat between Historic Scotland and Scottish Natural Heritage acknowledges the need for a more integrated approach to the conservation and management of Scotland’s historic environment.

The proposal comes from a recommendationin a Strategic Review of Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) published in July2005. The review commented that there are strong links between natural and culturalheritage but that designed landscapes constitute a relatively specialised area ofwork relating to historic, man-made and cultivated areas which is not in the mainstream of SNH work. Historic Scotland concurs with this view. Indeed the transfer of full responsibilityfor statutory advice on such sites to Historic Scotland will offer benefits of matchwith main remit and a simplification of consultation requirements for local authorities.

Historic Scotland willtake an integrated approach to the natural and cultural heritage interests foundon these sites and will work closely with SNH where there are natural heritage interests.

Question reference: S2W-28012

Asked by: Robin Harper, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 August 2006
Current Status: Answered by Patricia Ferguson on 22 September 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the proposal to transfer sole responsibility for the compilation of An Inventory of Gardens and Designed Landscapes to Historic Scotland, what measures will be taken to ensure the continued availability of grants for landowners towards the compilation of management plans for historic designed landscapes, which have until now been allocated by Scottish Natural Heritage, and whether specific provision for this will be made within Historic Scotland’s budget.

Question reference: S2W-28016

Asked by: Robin Harper, MSP for Lothians, Scottish Green Party
Date lodged: Tuesday, 29 August 2006
Current Status: Answered by Rhona Brankin on 21 September 2006

To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of the United Kingdom’s recent signing of the European Landscape Convention, what specific measures are being taken by the Executive to ensure that the commitments made under Articles 5 and 6 of the convention are acted upon and are reflected in future legislation and policies in respect of Scotland’s landscapes.

The Scottish Executive is satisfiedthat existing legislation and administrative systems for land use planning and environmentalmanagement provide appropriate means for meeting the obligations and objectivesset out in the European Landscape Convention.

In addition, the Executive hasgiven its support to Scottish Natural Heritage’s initiative in establishing the Scottish Landscape Forum, which will provide recommendations to ministers earlynext year on the future care of all Scotland’s landscapes. Work is also underwayon measures for the protection of rural landscape and the natural heritage withinthe framework of the Scottish Rural Development Programme 2007-13, while our regenerationpolicies are addressing green space issues in our urban areas. The Executive hasalso consulted on proposals for new legislation for Scotland’s nationallandscape designation, the National Scenic Area, which is currently being consideredby Parliament.

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